Things were looking pretty good for sub compact-car buyers back in 2009.

Mazda had its terrific little 2 on the market, Honda’s clever Jazz was attracting buyers and Toyota’s Yaris was also doing the business.

In between those, you had various other brands and models including Nissan’s Micra, the Mitsubishi Colt and the South Korean alternatives such as the Hyundai Getz and Kia Rio.

Yep, we were a bit spoiled for choice, so throwing a new car into that mix was never going to be an easy run.

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Yet that’s what Ford was faced with in 2009 when it was time to replace the ageing WQ model Fiesta with the all-new WS model.

While the outgoing model was a fairly conventional looking device, the new Fiesta was altogether more challenging to look at.

There were still elements of Ford’s 'Edge' design language to deal with in a marketplace that was populated by young people (who 'got' it) and older buyers (who, generally, did not).

Ford couldn’t really cover its bases with a sedan model for the more conservative buyers, either, and the new car was a five or three-door hatchback and that was that. For the time being.

The rest of the news wasn’t great, either.

While the manual version of the Fiesta got a 1.6-litre engine and pretty snappy performance, those who wanted an automatic gearbox were stuck with a smaller, 1.4-litre engine which produced just 71kW versus the 1.6’s 88kW.

If fuel economy is a big issue for you, then maybe a model called the Fiesta Econetic might be what you’re after.

This was a 1.6-litre turbo diesel engine with a five-speed manual gearbox with an official fuel consumption figure of a stunning 3.7-litres per 100km.

But for the volume-selling petrol-engined models, the caveats didn’t end there: While the manual was a five-speed unit, the automatic boasted just four forward ratios, making a huge difference in end product depending on your transmission choice.

In fact, the Fiesta won Drive’s Car of The Year for best small car under $20,000 in 2009, with the stipulation that it was the manual-gearbox car we were talking about, not the automatic.

But here’s where it starts to get a bit (more) complicated.

From 2009 until the end of 2010, Fiestas sold here were made at Ford’s German plant.

But cars delivered here from early 2011 were actually built in Thailand, the free-trade agreement between Australia and Thailand effectively making them cheaper to source from that country.

Now, the switch from a German-made car to a Thai-produced one isn’t necessarily a positive for most buyers, but there are other factors to consider with the upgrade to WT (2011) specification.

Just for starters, the three-door hatch was dropped, but in its place came a four-door sedan.

A pretty ungainly looking device from most angles, the Fiesta sedan was, however, just what a lot of empty-nester and older inner-city-dwelling buyers were looking for.

Also, the two-pedal version of the car got a serious upgrade.

Gone was the four-speed automatic and in its place went a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The 1.4-litre engine was despatched to history as well, and the same 88kW 1.6 that powered the manual version was substituted.

Suddenly, the Fiesta was a serious volume player in its segment.

The other reason to opt for a post-2011 Fiesta is safety.

At the time of the facelift, Ford moved to make stability control standard on the LX model as well as seven airbags.

The entry-level CL version was the only one to miss out on this equipment, but a $600 safety pack brought it up to the same five-star NCAP level as the rest of the line-up.

Just make sure than if you’re buying a CL, you know whether it has this pack fitted or not.

But what of the elephant in the room: Build quality?

To be honest, there was some evidence of cost being pulled out of the car in the switch from German to Thai manufacture and while it won’t bother some buyers, it will annoy others.

There were little things like a harder grade of plastic on the dashboard and a slight drop-off in fit and finish of the interior bits and pieces.

Of more concern was the steering column which still adjusted for tilt, but lost its reach-adjustment; a real backward step.

But if you could live with that, then the only real obstacle was a mental one.

In service, the Fiesta seems to be able to go the distance, although like its Focus big brother, we’d take a very close look at the double-clutch gearbox before handing over the cash.

These units are good, but they can offer a little clunkiness in stop-start traffic.

Apparently, that’s nothing to worry about, but a transmission that shudders or chatters during take-off could have internal dramas.

Be wary, too, of a car that has an erratic shift pattern.

Some experts reckon the problem is down to poor earthing of the car’s electrical system and that improving on this can fix all sorts of transmission misbehaviour.

On manual cars, make sure the clutch engages smoothly as you take off from a standing start.

Again, any shuddering is bad news, but so is a grinding or whirring noise in neutral that disappears when you push the clutch pedal in.

A very small number (nine, to be exact) cars were recalled to check a dashboard problem that may not have allowed the passenger’s air-bag to deploy properly, while a batch of Econetic models built in September 2011 were also recalled to check a blanking plug in the exhaust system which could have caused an exhaust-gas leak.

5 comments so far

What I like about the Fiesta is the direct steering and sure footed chassis dynamics. I have not had more fun driving a car in the super mini class.

Commenter

FiestaSyd

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 22, 2014, 10:36PM

Why is the Ford Fiesta ecoboost only sold with a manual in the home of automatics - the USA, and yet comes with the DSG gearbox in Australia? Are there still problems with the DSG technology, or has Ford got it right in their Ford Fiesta's today?

Commenter

MichaelD

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 23, 2014, 8:28AM

A reliable blog always comes-up with new and exciting information and while reading I have feel that this blog is really have all those quality that characterize a blog to be a best one.

Commenter

JaxonSmith

Location

singapore

Date and time

July 03, 2014, 7:22PM

Only thing i dont like about the a Fiesta is its price. WAY OVERPRICED for what you get. And Exec pack should be standard

Commenter

Matt

Location

Date and time

July 24, 2014, 9:31AM

It's good for what it is.If you must get an automatic get a post update model.Around the time I was looking in 2010 at a Fiesta to replace a 2006 Tiida for work purposes Autos had an asthmatic 71KW 1.4 L motor.I am driving a Micra at the moment but a used Fiesta is on the list that isn't too old for a replacement.I am looking for something that would be about the same size as what a Laser or Corolla was this time 25 years ago but still small enough for shopping and running about in.